At the opening of the American Revolution, in 1775, the American society was tainted with high taxes and a tyrannical king. Politically, the creation of a new constitution, led to the establishment of a new centralized democratic government. Socially, more individuals and groups fought to secure rights for themselves, especially women, slaves, and religious groups. Economically, a method for fixing the national debt, along with a strong agrarian base, would help a slow, but steady improvement to American society. Political, social, and economic aspects of the overall American society were affected so dramatically as to create a new country that is so unlike any nation created before it. Politics had a lot to do with American society, but before and after the Revolution, the political system in America was dramatically changing. While George Washington advocated a motion for neutrality in foreign affairs, in his Farewell Address, his advice was not taken into consideration. As the Speech at the Confederate Council of 1786(Document E) says, the Indians felt as though they were being pushed to the side when it came to friendly relations. In addition, due to disagreements in political issues, a party system formed in Congress, consisting of Democratic-Republicans and Federalists. Being Independent from England, then gave the Americans a lot more freedom to do what they so desired, and also gave the Americans the responsibility to decide on the new laws that would govern them. This sparked the creation of the Constitution. Also, in The Pennsylvania Packet from 1779(Document B), John Dunlap, the publisher, gets fired up about the Loyalists, or Tories. This demonstrates the hatred that the Americans have toward England and that they mus... ... middle of paper ... ... national bank, but in his third, he caught a lot of criticism for. He moved that the economy be based off of manufacturing and not the old ways of depending on farming, to create a well balanced and self-sustaining industrial system. Hamilton’s opposition came from Thomas Jefferson, who promoted the old agrarian based economy. The Medal of the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture (Document F) showed that there was a need for a rural based economy and not completely relying on a new form of manufacturing. It is because of these people and issues that made the American Revolution so impactful to American Society. Progression is even still taking place today, as the War in Iraq is affecting our economy. Every day, the United States becomes even more and more in debt, and people are losing their jobs and all facets of life are affected because of it.
According to Carl N. Degler, the entire Revolution should be viewed as a conservative change. In “A New Kind of Revolution,” Degler talked about how the new actions taken place by the English had help structure and shape the colonial government. Not only did the colonies lack the affection of their motherland, Britain, they were also taxed unfairly. On the other hand, “The Radicalism of the American Revolution,” by Gordon S. Wood talks about how the American Revolution was a radical movement. His thesis covered how the country was transitioning from monarchy to republic, and now, democracy. The framers wanted to create a free nation where no single person rule. As well as, the people of the nation having the ultimate say so.
Gordon Wood’s Radicalism of the American Revolution is a book that extensively covers the origin and ideas preceding the American Revolution. Wood’s account of the Revolution goes beyond the history and timeline of the war and offers a new encompassing look inside the social ideology and economic forces of the war. Wood explains in his book that America went through a two-stage progression to break away from the Monarchical rule of the English. He believes the pioneering revolutionaries were rooted in the belief of an American Republic. However, it was the radical acceptance of democracy that was the final step toward independence. The transformation between becoming a Republic, to ultimately becoming a democracy, is where Wood’s evaluation of the revolution differs from other historians. He contributes such a transformation to the social and economic factors that faced the colonists. While Gordon Wood creates a persuasive argument in his book, he does however neglect to consider other contributing factors of the revolution. It is these neglected factors that provide opportunity for criticism of his book.
From the time period 1775-1800, the American Revolution would impact the United States in political, social and economic ways.
In early America between the years of 1825-1850, America was rapidly changing and reforming the way people lived. Societal problems and major discrepancies that had previously been overlooked began to rapidly gain awareness. The main idea of the reforms in the United States at this time was the relatively new sense of Democracy. Reform sought to maximize these benefits in light of Democracy and for this reason came up with many changes in which greater good can be found through freedom, justice, and equality of all people.
The American Revolution is without a question one of the, if not the most, important period in the beginning of American history. Between 1765 and 1783, the colonists rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy after a series of taxes and tariffs were forced upon them, finally the colonists then ultimately overthrew their authority and founded the United States of America. Many historians and authors have debated over the exact reason and overall effects of the War for Independence, however, all agree of the significance and importance of this event. The colonies, which were created as a resource for raw materials and a means for generating profits for Parliament and the Crown, began to desire managing their own affairs and worked towards
Jefferson’s agricultural viewpoint was vastly different from Hamilton’s manufacturing perspective. Though they both envisioned a great and prosperous nation, they had contrasting opinions on how this should occur. Hamilton, a Federalist, believed the rich and powerful should be the central government for all people, as they knew better how to foster and protect the em...
The start of the American Revolution, described by Edmund Morgan as, “the shot heard around the world,” was the “Americans’ search for principles” (Bender 63). Although the world’s colonies did not necessarily seek independence much like the Americans, the world’s colonies were nonetheless tired of the “administrative tyranny” being carried out by their colonizers (Bender 75). The American Revolution set a new standard in the colonies, proclaiming that the “rights of Englishmen” should and must be the “rights of man,” which established a new set foundation for the universal rights of man (Bender 63). This revolution spread new ideas of democracy for the colonized world, reshaping people’s expectations on how they should be governed. Bender emphasizes America as challenging “the old, imperial social forms and cultural values” and embracing modern individualism” (Bender 74). Bender shapes the American Revolution as a turning point for national governments. The American Revolution commenced a new trend of pushing out the old and introducing new self-reliant systems of government for the former
In conclusion, the American Revolution was very revolutionary. It was a huge milestone in American history. The war not only gave America their own independence from the most powerful country in the world, it gave the American government the basis of how it runs today and brought about many social and political changes. Although many historians see the war as a change of power from one greedy power to another, Americans wouldn’t have a democracy and citizens wouldn’t have the rights they have.
Many revolutions have taken place throughout history, ranging from the unremarkable to the truly memorable, such as the French Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution and the American Revolution. Through an examination of the social, cultural, economic and political causes of the American Revolution, an exploration of key arguments both for and against the American Revolution, and an analysis of the social, cultural, economic and political changes brought about by the American Revolution it can be demonstrated unequivocally that the American Revolution was indeed truly revolutionary.
The American Revolution marked the divorce of the British Empire and its one of the most valued colonies. Behind the independence that America had fought so hard for, there emerged a diverging society that was eager to embrace new doctrines. The ideals in the revolution that motivated the people to fight for freedom continued to influence American society well beyond the colonial period. For example, the ideas borrowed from John Locke about the natural rights of man was extended in an unsuccessful effort to include women and slaves. The creation of state governments and the search for a national government were the first steps that Americans took to experiment with their own system. Expansion, postwar depression as well as the new distribution of land were all evidence that pointed to the gradual maturing of the economic system. Although America was fast on its way to becoming a strong and powerful nation, the underlying issues brought about by the Revolution remained an important part in the social, political and economical developments that in some instances contradicted revolutionary principles in the period from 1775-1800.
The American Revolution modeled the path taken by a social and economic movement in many more aspects than that of a political and intellectual movement. Even though political reasons existed for the cause the Revolution, the revolution should be considered an economic movement based on the idea of “no taxation without representation.” The colonists believed that the British rule in the colonies was extremely unfair, but these intellectual causes are greatly outnumbered by economic causes such as taxes and trade.
History has many exciting and devastating times.During the 1600s-1700s there has been a series of acts and wars.During this time there were many famous people at the time this happened.People like George Washington,Benjamin Franklin,Paul Revere,and King George III.One of the reasons is because after the French and Indian War;the british were taxing without representation.This starts the American Revolution.The British and the Patriots started to get heated at one another.After the French and Indian War the British said no one was a loud to cross the Appalachian Mountains,but the colonist did anyway.This is how the American Revolution happened.
The reason for revolution in America during the eighteenth century was not due to a single event but rather the difference in ideology from people living in America and the rule in Great Britain. Americans, as a country, realized that they wanted the same freedom the British had, instead of being used as a source of income. There are many struggles that Americans encountered in this thirst for freedom, occurrences like harsh taxes on necessities and retaliation of British officials.
The original motivation in the American Revolution was conservative in nature. In the early to mid-1760s, when revolutionaries were beginning to speak out against the unfair position of America in the British Empire, separation was not viewed as a reasonable, or even conceivable, route. These revolutionary voices sought to gain a more equitable position in the British Empire and increased autonomy in governance, specifically the power of colonial assemblies. As time went on, England continued to be unreceptive to the colonists’ requests for self-government, and feelings of discontent continued to spread, and become more virulent, aided by the proliferation of speeches, pamphlets, and essays on the topic. By 1774, British oppression had risen
In the prior times in American society in the early and late 17th century, the American people had endured and experienced the oppression of the Britain monarchies and their laws. Furthermore, the citizens had to pay heavy taxes on Britain imports, sugar and even stamps in order to pay off war debts from the French and Indian War. The American citizens had enough of the tyranny,thus leading a rebellion of overthrown the monarchy, and finally the starting point of the American Revolution. In the aftermath of the Revolution, the American society were in turmoil as they began to establish a new government; however, the Constitution were in doubt that they were able to contemplate how to restrict or limit people’s rights and government’s authority. In the depths of American society, there